2026 Hagley Theatre School Winter Season

When wonder fades, what remains?
Wonder is a visually inventive new work of mask and object theatre about imagination, loneliness, healing and letting go.
By Sarah and Blaise Barham
Direction and dramaturgy by Pedro Ilgenfritz
Puppets by Ifat Vayner
Isaac Theatre Royal
23 June - 24 June 7.30pm
25 June 1pm

Every semester, Hagley Theatre School presents a season of works in partnership with professional theatres, organisations, and festivals. These projects are presented across a range of theatre spaces, exploring audience relationships, theatre styles, and new dramaturgical approaches. The performances are curated in collaboration with students and showcase the development process of the Six‑Month Theatre Creation course, as well as the graduation production of the One‑Year Acting Training course.
The Winter and Summer Seasons are branded to represent the innovative, cutting‑edge, and risk‑taking nature of the projects. They push the boundaries of theatre creation and storytelling, while also serving as a launching pad for new theatre works and emerging careers.
In 2025, the inaugural Winter Season saw HTS partner with Isaac Theatre Royal to premiere The Meeting by Lola Houghton, alongside E Ipo / My Love by Gisele Proud and Tane Te Pakeke‑Patterson. The Summer Season featured Faust on Trial by Josiah Morgan and Jonty Coulson (with special guest Stella Cheersmith) and a partnership with Te Wā | The Space, as well as an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey as the graduation project of the Acting Training students at Altiora.



